


I am more than these bones

by lumoshyperion



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Alternate Reality, Alternate Universe - Dark, Alternate Universe - Voldemort Wins, Angst, Astoria Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-10-18 07:09:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20635148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lumoshyperion/pseuds/lumoshyperion
Summary: As Scorpius stumbles hopelessly through the Voldemort reality, he finds something wholly unexpected and is faced with an impossible decision. (An Astoria lives in the Dark Reality au)





	I am more than these bones

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from Flesh and Bone by Keaton Henson. This fic is relentlessly dark, as you would expect, so just a warning for that.

I enter your night  
like a darkened boat, a smuggler  
These lanterns, my eyes  
and heart are out   
I bring you something  
you do not want:  
news of the country  
I am trapped in,  
news of your future:  
soon you will have no voice

[...] 

swollen with words you never said,  
swollen with hoarded love.  
I exist in two places,  
here and where you are.

\- Corpse Song, Margaret Atwood.

Scorpius stumbled out of the fireplace and into the busy main hall of the Ministry of Magic, cradling his arm and glancing around - wildly - at the passing witches and wizards. They stared back at him, some in fear, some with respect, and all of them made a path for him as he made his way up to the office for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

There was blood, seeping through his shirt. He could feel the fabric sticking to his arm under his robes. But he couldn’t stop and look at it. If he stopped, he wouldn’t be able to go on anymore. He’d been in this other reality for four days. He’d seen so much, learned so much, and yet he still felt utterly out of place. Every time someone looked at him for too long, he was certain that they knew. Somehow they knew who he was and that he was different and they were going to tell everyone.

But no one stopped him as he made his way through the halls of the ministry. And before he knew it, he was standing outside the office of the Head of Magical Law Enforcement. It was Harry’s job, it had been for years. But Harry Potter was dead and Scorpius had no idea what he would find on the other side of that door. Taking a deep breath, he pushed it open and stepped inside. But he wasn’t at all prepared for the sight that awaited him.

“You are late,” his father said, without looking up from his paperwork.

Scorpius blinked. “This is your office?”

Draco stood up, rearranging the files on his desk. “You are late and unapologetic - maybe you are determined to compound the problem?”

“You’re Head of Magical Law Enforcement?” He asked, incredulously, as he cast about the room - taking in the dark decor and Augurey flags.

“How dare you!” Draco shouted, and Scorpius flinched. “How dare you embarrass me and keep me waiting and then not apologize for it!”

He looked at his feet, blinking away tears. “Sorry.”

“__Sir,__” his father growled.

Scorpius looked up, watching as his father leaned against the table - all irrepressible power and thinly veiled disgust. This wasn’t the man he grew up with. He had to remember that. He just had to. “Sorry, sir.”

“I did not bring you up to be sloppy, Scorpius,” Draco continued, his voice low and dark as he stared across the room. Scorpius shrunk under his scrutiny. “I did not bring you up to humiliate me at Hogwarts.”

He looked up, confused. “Humiliate you, sir?”

“Harry Potter!” He snarled. “Asking questions about Harry Potter, of all the embarrassing things. How dare you disgrace the Malfoy name.”

Scorpius gasped, a million thoughts racing through his head as he stared at his father. “No... No, no - are you responsible? No… No. You __can’t __be.”

“Scorpius…”

But he wasn’t finished. “The Daily Prophet today - three wizards blowing up bridges to see how many Muggles they can kill with one blast - is that you?”

Draco inclined his head, his expression unreadable. “Be very careful.”

“Those… ‘Mudblood’ death camps, the torture, the burning alive of those that oppose him. How much of that is you?” He asked, advancing towards the desk. But there was no response from his father, so he continued. “Mum always told me that you were a better man than I could see, but this is what you really are, isn’t it? A murderer, a torturer, a -” Scorpius had stopped in front of the desk and was inches away from his dad, when he grabbed him by the neck and pushed his face down onto the desk. He whimpered, squirming under his father’s grasp, but he was too strong for him.

“Do not use her name in vain, Scorpius, you do not score points that way. She deserves better.” Draco released him and pushed him away from the desk, watching as he cradled his neck and sobbed. “And no, those idiots blasting Muggles, that’s not my doing - though it’ll be me the Augury asks to bribe the Muggle Prime Minister with gold,” He paused, though Scorpius couldn’t bring himself to look up and see what he was thinking, how he was feeling. “Does your mother really say that of me?”

Scorpius wiped his face with his sleeve. It felt so wrong to speak of his mother in this world. He couldn’t imagine her in it, he just couldn’t. He hated the very thought of it. “She said that Grandfather didn’t like her very much. He opposed the match - thought she was too Muggle-loving, too weak. But you defied him for her. She said it was the bravest thing she’d ever seen.”

There was a flash of something in his father’s eyes, but he couldn’t catch it. “She makes being brave very easy, your mother.”

“But that was - another you,” Scorpius gasped, shaking his head. “I’ve done bad things, you’ve done worse. What have we become, dad?”

Draco frowned. “We haven’t become anything - we simply are as we are.”

“The Malfoys,” he replied, bitterly. “The family you can always rely on to make the world a murkier place.”

His father moved around the desk and stepped towards him. Scorpius looked at the floor, cradling his hand to his chest, fearing some other show of violence for speaking out of turn. “This business at the school - what’s inspired it?”

“I don’t want to be who I am,” he responded, without looking at him.

“And what’s brought that on?”

Scorpius struggled to find a reason for his actions that wouldn’t inspire more suspicion, more violence. His hand ached - he could feel the heat of it blossoming in his chest. “I’ve seen myself in a different way.”

“You know what I love most about your mother?” Scorpius looked up, stunned. “She can always help me find light in the darkness. She makes the world less - what was the word you used - murky.”

His arm dropped to his side as he stared at his father, in a new light.

“There’s more of her in there than I thought,” Draco said - the ghost of a smile passing across his face, though it was gone and he was stepping back over to his desk before Scorpius could catch it. “Whatever you’re doing, do it safely… We can’t lose you, too.”

But then his father’s words hit him, square in the chest, as if he was hearing them all over again. _Does your mother really say that of me?_ “Where - where is my mother now?” He asked, trying and failing to remain composed.

Draco blinked at him. “She’s at home, of course.”

Scorpius felt his stomach drop, and the room seemed to be falling down around him - or was it him that was falling?

Draco regarded him for a moment - clearly unaware of his distress - before moving his hands in what was now an incredibly familiar gesture. “For Voldemort and Valor.”

He copied the movements, still reeling from his father’s words. “For Voldemort and Valor.”

* * *

When he came out of the fireplace in the main hall of the Malfoy manor, he had half expected it to look different. But it wasn’t. The familiarity of the rooms, the portraits and paintings and furniture and ornaments, left him with a feeling he couldn’t quite place. He was home, yet he wasn’t. He felt safe, but he knew he couldn’t be. His neck still ached from where his father had pushed him down onto the desk. It was likely to bruise.

As he moved to the upper floor and down the winding hallways, searching for any sign of life, he became more and more aware of the propaganda on the walls - the Augurey flags and posters, newspaper articles and photographs shouting of dark deeds and darker hearts. But he still persisted, pushing ever onwards through the familiar and strange halls of his childhood home, until he finally came to the library.

When he saw her, he felt as though all the air had left the room. She was sitting at a desk, pouring over documents and photographs - scribbling notes in the margins as her dark brown hair, which was shorter than he remembered, fell around her resolute face. He almost didn’t want to speak. He was content to just watch her, to be in her presence again. It had been a whole year since her passing. It never got easier. It never went away, it was only pushed to the back of his mind - this constant, irrepressible ache in his heart like a piece of it was missing.

When she looked up and noticed him, standing in the doorway, her eyes went wide and she immediately reordered her paperwork, putting files away and covering photographs with documents as she spoke, “Scorpius. I wasn’t expecting you.”

Everything that had happened in this other reality had felt as though he was watching someone else, in his body, living another life. But as his mother looked up at him from across the room, it was like he’d been dragged up into the blazing sunlight and all he could do was stare back at her in stunned silence.

“Is something wrong?” She asked, standing up and frowning at him. “Don’t you have a meeting with your father today?”

As she looked at him, he tried to speak. But all he could manage was a curt nod. Then before he knew it, she was crossing the room with an expression that he couldn’t quite place. When she reached up and touched his forehead with the back of her hand, he let out an involuntary sob and she pulled away.

“You’re ill,” she said, matter-of-factly. “Sit down. I’ll get you something.”

But Scorpius couldn’t let her out of his sight. He watched her leave the room, before following her out at a much slower pace. As he made his way through the hallways and down the stairs, it suddenly occurred to him what he’d seen in her face. Distrust.

When he found her in the kitchen on the lower levels, she wasn’t alone. There was a man and a woman sitting at the table, eating from a large plate of fruit and sandwiches. In the woman’s arms was a sleeping girl who couldn’t have been older than five or six, though she was so small and thin that it was difficult to tell. But then, Scorpius realised, they all were. Their clothes were baggy over their slight figures and they ate, ravenously, as if they hadn’t eaten in days.

“Maybe he just needs some Draught of Peace,” the woman offered, watching as Astoria rifled through the cupboards. “He doesn’t sound very sick to me.”

“I don’t think I have any of that. I think I used the last of it when the Gardners were here,” she replied, slamming another cupboard shut. “But I’m sure I’ve got something lying around somewhere. Pepperup Potion… Calming draught, anything…” She continued, pushing around bottles and jars on the kitchen bench.

But the couple were silent. They’d spotted Scorpius standing in the doorway and were staring at him. The woman held the sleeping girl a little tighter and the man wrapped his arm around her shoulder while glaring over at him.

His mother produced a bottle from one of the lower cupboards and turned around, her eyes going wide when she saw him. Without another word, she crossed the room and pushed him out - leading him back upstairs and away from the couple and their child.

“Who - who were they?” He asked, and was surprised by the sound of his own voice.

Astoria shut the door to the library and leaned against it, with a sigh. And then she frowned over at Scorpius. “What are you doing home?”

He was stunned. He used to always visit home throughout the school terms and especially in those last awful weeks of her illness. But that was a different time, a different place. He was looking at his mother and he knew her and yet didn’t know her at all, and it made him ache. “I - I wanted to talk to you,” he muttered, tentatively. “I wanted to tell you something.”

She looked at him, for a moment, and he could feel her making a decision about him. He fiddled under her gaze, pulling at the sleeves of his robes and biting his lip. And then she nodded, motioning towards a sofa against the wall by the door.

He sat down, suddenly uncertain where to start. _Would she even believe him? _he wondered, as he watched her take a seat next to him. But there was nothing for it. With a deep breath, and a hand clasping the Time-Turner under his robes, he began, “I’m - I’m not who you think I am. There’s another me. Another you, another dad, and - another world where - where Harry Potter never died, where Voldemort was killed at the Battle of Hogwarts,” he paused, as Astoria sat back in her seat and frowned, clearly stunned by his words. “In this other world Harry Potter had a son named Albus and we stole a Time-Turner together - we stole it in order to save Cedric Diggory, but -”

“Cedric? You wanted to save Cedric Diggory?” She asked, and Scorpius nodded. “Why?”

He hadn’t thought about that. He’d followed Albus, because it felt right. But, then, he would have followed him anywhere. “Because it wasn’t fair - the way he died,” he explained. “He was so young and if he hadn’t won the Triwizard Tournament, then -”

Astoria cut him off, shaking her head, “but Harry Potter won the Triwizard Tournament. He won it alone and the cup was a portkey that -”

“Transported him to Voldemort, I know,” Scorpius finished. “But Cedric was supposed to win it with him. Because they were together, because he was with Harry when they arrived in the cemetery - Voldemort killed him. Just because he was there, Voldemort murdered him.” He stopped, swallowing hard as he pulled out the Time-Turner. His mother froze, next to him, as he twisted it around in his hands. “Albus wanted to save him. To fix things. So we used this to go back to the first and second tasks, to try and humiliate him into losing,” he continued, although his voice was shaking. Every time he spoke that two syllable word, it was like a cavity was opening up inside his chest. But it was a word he hadn’t uttered in days and the relief of it made him want to shout it as loud and as often as he could. _Albus, Albus, Albus…_

“How did you humiliate Cedric?” Astoria asked, suddenly, and Scorpius looked up. “You said you travelled back to the first and second tasks. He lost them both. I remember. But how did you make that happen?”

He blinked at her. “You believe me?”

“I want to,” she replied, her brown eyes glowing with a curiousity that was so familiar. “Can you tell me more?”

“The first task was to retrieve a golden egg from a dragon, so we disarmed Cedric before he could do it. But when we came back from time, he was still dead, so we went back again. We found a way into the lake and used an engorgement charm on Cedric.” He stopped and shook his head. “But something must have happened after all that. Something must have changed.” Scorpius glanced over at his mother, hoping she would have the answers, or maybe just some light in the darkness.

“After the Triwizard Tournament, his father was so disappointed. The papers were running articles and spreading rumours about him for months and he never got over it, never moved on. Eventually he alienated all of his friends. He was such a bright young boy, but he was miserable after he left Hogwarts,” she explained, and Scorpius couldn’t help but think of how unhappy Albus was at school and the chasm inside him grew wider. He bit his lip and looked away as Astoria continued. “He’d excelled at school, but he wasn’t able to find work anywhere. No one wanted anything to do with him. He became bitter and jaded and - after a few years, he fell in with the wrong crowd.”

Scorpius looked up and frowned. But from her expression, he knew who she was talking about. His grandparents and his father. The Death Eaters. Lord Voldemort.

“They were the only ones who would have anything to do with him. But they were using him. They wanted him in their ranks for what was to come. It was a terrible time. We all did things we never thought we could. He was scared, we all were.” Astoria sighed, pressing a hand to her lips. He wanted to reach out and touch her arm, but was afraid of overstepping. “So when I saw him at the Battle of Hogwarts, I wasn’t surprised. He would have been only twenty or twenty one at the time, but he looked so much younger. He was just a kid. We were all just kids, fighting in someone else’s war.

“He was killed during the battle, you know. So many people were,” she continued. “And then everyone who died after - hunted down, kidnapped, imprisoned - all over blood status or loyalties. I could be killed for what I’ve been doing for that family you saw. They’re Muggleborns. And their daughter is a werewolf. They can’t travel until after the next full moon, so I’ve been keeping them here until then.”

Scorpius could feel how tense she was as she wrung her hands in her lap, without looking at him. “I won’t tell anyone,” he reassured her, and watched as her shoulders relaxed a little. “Does dad know?”

Astoria sighed. “He knows what I’ve been doing. He doesn’t know I’ve been housing them here,” she paused and raised an eyebrow at him. “Our little secret?”

“Of course,” he gasped, his breath catching in his throat as a thousand thoughts and feelings whirled through his head - mostly about his father, shouting at him in his office.

“I still don’t understand it. How could one person have changed everything so much? How could Cedric have single-handedly brought about Voldemort’s triumph over Harry Potter?”

Scorpius thought about that. “The first time we came back to the present, we hadn’t saved Cedric, but - things were different. We ran into Hermione Granger at the first task, while we were dressed as Durmstrang students. And she was suspicious of us, so she turned down Viktor’s offer to go to the Yule Ball. She believed he’d asked us to ruin Cedric’s chances of winning,” he explained. “But she was supposed to go with him. Because she didn’t, Ron Weasley never got jealous. And they never got married, never had children. The Time-Turner can only take you back for five minutes, but it was long enough for us to accidentally erase Albus’ cousins from existence.”

“Ron and Hermione were married? They had children?” Scorpius nodded. “Oh, wait until Ron hears about this…”

“They’re alive?” He blurted out, incredulously.

“Barely,” she replied. “They’re in hiding, on Hogwarts grounds. They’re all that’s left of a dying rebellion.”

Scorpius sat back in his seat, staring down at the Time-Turner. If Hermione Granger was alive, then they could ask her for help. If anyone knew what to do, it would be the Minister for Magic herself. A sudden wave of relief washed over him. But then his stomach sank as a dreadful realisation dawned on him. His mother couldn’t come with him. They could fix things and he could go home - he could get Albus back - but he would have to leave her behind.

Astoria, who had been thinking quietly to herself, suddenly turned to him and spoke, “you know - Cedric only killed one wizard at the Battle of Hogwarts. Neville Longbottom.”

His eyes widened and he almost dropped the Time-Turner on the floor as he spluttered over his own words, “Oh! Oh! That’s it! Professor Longbottom was supposed to kill Nagini, Voldemort’s snake - and Nagini had to die before Voldemort could die!”

“Nagini had to die before Voldemort could die!” They finished at the same time, identical expressions of gratification on their faces. “Of course! Harry was killed by Voldemort, but he wasn’t the last Horcrux - and if Neville was supposed to kill Nagini, but never did - that’s it! You’ve solved it!” Astoria exclaimed, practically glowing from head to toe. Then she paused and clapped her hands together, looking away from Scorpius in deep consideration. “Right. We can get to the school before dark and go back in time and stop you and Albus, but - oh, we should tell the others first and - wait, wasn’t the second task in the lake? I’ll have to find some Gillyweed for you. I’m sure we have some…”

But Scorpius wasn’t listening. Everything was happening too fast and suddenly she had got up and left to find a jar of Gillyweed downstairs. He felt as if he was losing her, all over again - and he was. He had to. He didn’t have a choice. Everything she had told him and everything he had seen in the past days and hours - it couldn’t stay like this forever. They had to change time. He knew that. But the knowledge of it was crushing him.

All he could see was Albus, crying in the library as he shouted at him. They’d both said awful things in that moment, but the expression of guilt and horror on his friend’s face was only just occurring to him now and he couldn’t get the image out of his mind. What if he never saw him again? What if some of the last words they ever exchanged were heated?

And all of a sudden, he couldn’t breathe. His hands were trembling and his vision was blurring as his eyes filled with tears. He had this terrible sensation of falling and he could feel himself crying out for help, but no sound came out. His mother returned to the room and gave him something - a potion or a spell of some sort - and he passed out.

* * *

When Scorpius woke on the couch in the library, he quickly sat up and searched for the Time-Turner. But it was gone. His only tie to Albus and it was gone. He forced himself up and shakily made his way out into the hall, looking around wildly for any sign of his mother. He heard voices from the lower floors and made his stumbling way downstairs. He found her in the main hall, standing by a window with his father.

Draco Malfoy was just as menacing as he was earlier that day at the Ministry. But in his expression was a confusion and discomfort that was so wholly human, that Scorpius paused in the doorway and listened to their conversation.

“And you believed him? After everything that’s happened, after everything he’s done -”

“You’ve seen him, haven’t you? He’s different,” Astoria cut him off, her face full of determination. “This isn’t the same boy we were sent home from that dreadful school. This isn’t the same person.”

Draco clenched his jaw and stared out the window. But when he spoke, his voice was low and full of an emotion that Scorpius couldn’t quite place. “We agreed. We agreed we would keep him out of this.” He glanced back at Astoria. “Keep him ignorant, keep him safe.”

She bit her lip, toying with the Time-Turner in her hands. Scorpius hadn’t even realised she was holding it, he was so rapt in their conversation. “I know. But I’m sick of it. We never should have sent him there. Once Umbridge got her claws on him, we were never going to get him back,” she paused, then looked up, and there was that determination again. “The possibility - the slightest chance - that we can change things, save everyone, destroy Voldemort, I just - I can’t give it up. And I trust him. He’s telling the truth.”

“I have proof,” Scorpius spoke up from the doorway, and his parents both looked over at him. “Your Scorpius - your son - he has… a dark mark. Doesn’t he?” Without prompting from either of them, he pulled off his robes and unbuttoned the cuff of his dress shirt before rolling up the sleeve. It was difficult. His hands were trembling from the panic attack in the library, but he still managed somehow, and revealed the bare skin of his forearm to his parents.

There was no answer, as they both stared at him. But then his mother crossed the room and took his arm, gently. She turned it over and traced the scar on the back of his hand. She must have cleaned the wound after he passed out, because all the blood was gone and he could clearly read the words left behind. 'I will not shirk my duties.' His punishment from earlier that day. He could still feel the enchanted quill, digging into his skin.

“We’ll go to Professor Snape,” Draco spoke from behind them, and they both looked up. “Develop a strategy. Get Scorpius back to the first and second tasks, safely, and without anyone from the school notifying Umbridge of his absence.” Next to him, his mother pursed her lips, and Draco scowled. “I know you don’t like him, but he’s our only ally.”

“I don’t _trust_ him,” Astoria admonished. “And, besides, he is not our only ally at the school.”

He considered her, for a moment, before something occurred to him and he shook his head. “No. _No._ Surely you don’t mean Weasley and Granger.”

She crossed her arms. “And what’s wrong with them? Last I checked, they were causing a fair amount of bother for you at the Ministry.”

“Exactly! They’re no more than a pair of troublemakers,” Draco insisted. “This is too important for ruffians and delinquents playing at revolutions.”

“You have no idea how much Hermione has done since the war - not just for Voldemort’s victims, but for our family, and for Scorpius. We have only survived this long because of her,” Astoria declared, her voice full of resolve. “I’ll go to Professor Snape first, but I will not do this without her.”

There was a silence, as something passed between his parents. And then his father inclined his head and sighed. “Be careful.”

“I always am,” she replied, a small smile forming on her face as she watched him from across the room. “There’s Muggleborns in the kitchen, by the way.”

His father gave a short laugh. “Of course there are.”

* * *

“Hermione, you’re the most wanted rebel in the wizarding world,” Professor Snape drawled, his expression dark and firm in the fading light of the roots of the Whomping Willow. “Doing this will require you to go outside. When was the last time you were outside?”

“Not for a long time, but -” Hermione began.

Professor Snape cut her off, “if you’re found outside, the Dementors will kiss you - they will suck out your soul.”

Scorpius was sitting in a corner of the room, the Time-Turner on the table in front of him. His mother was standing with Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, while Professor Snape towered over the three of them. He had explained everything, in detail, and was left to listen and wait as they plotted a way to fix his and Albus’ mistakes. But his eyes were constantly drawn to his mother. Once they arrived at the school, she had marched Scorpius down the halls without a care or a second thought for the gaping students and faculty.

Her bravery, boldness, and determination had all been fragments of a life lived in the other reality. For that whole year without her, he’d fallen back on them for courage and strength, but now they were all standing in front of him - so vivid and real and beating with such ferocity - and he found that he couldn’t tear his eyes away.

“Severus - I’m done with living off scraps and making failed attempts at coups. This is our chance to reset the world,” Hermione exclaimed, her voice full of emotion as she stared down Snape. Then she turned to the map on the wall and motioned to a section of it. “The first task of the tournament took place at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. We turn time here, get to the tournament - block the spell and then return safely. With precision - it can be done and it won’t require us to show our faces outside in our time at all. Then we’ll turn time again, make our way to the lake, and reverse the second task.”

“You’re risking everything -”

“We get this right, Harry’s alive, Voldemort’s dead and the Augurey is gone. For that no risk is too great.” She paused and bit her lip. “Though I am sorry what it will cost you.”

“Sometimes costs are made to be borne,” he replied, before groaning out loud. “I didn’t just quote Dumbledore, did I?”

“No, I’m pretty sure that’s pure Severus Snape,” Hermione said. “Malfoy. Are you ready?”

Scorpius looked up and found that everyone was staring at him, expectantly. But he couldn’t answer. The already small space beneath the Whomping Willow seemed to be closing in around him. Without thinking, he took the Time-Turner from the table and hunched over it, shaking his head. He could hear Ron and Hermione talking to each other, but he couldn’t tell what they were saying.

Then suddenly he was alone with his mother. The others had left for another room, at her request, and she was sitting next to him. He could feel the warmth of her through the layers of his robes and it was all too much. He looked away and closed his eyes.

“Professor Snape said that you were a little too surprised when you saw him,” she said, quietly. “But you passed out after we spoke, back at home. I suppose that makes me more special than him, then?”

Scorpius swallowed the lump in his throat and loosened his grip on the Time-Turner as he straightened his back, although he still couldn’t meet her gaze.

Astoria sighed. “They used dark magic to save me. Your grandparents and my sister. Blood sacrifices had to be made and - I didn’t want them to do it, but they didn’t give me a choice,” she explained. “But you have a choice, Scorpius. I’m just sorry that you have to make it.”

He finally looked up at her through tear filled eyes. “I know. I know I - have to do this, but - I’ve missed you,” he gasped, on the verge of sobs as she reached out to him. “I’ve missed you so much."

Scorpius buried his face in his mother's shoulder as she stroked his hair and kissed his cheek. There was nothing to be said. So they just held each other, for as long as they could.

* * *

Once they arrived at the edge of the Forbidden Forest in 1994, they followed the sounds of the crowds cheering until they came to the dragon enclosure - Hermione leading the group as Professor Snape and Ron Weasley brought up the rear, watching the trees for any sign of stray students or teachers. But there clearly wasn’t any danger. The skies were much clearer than they’d ever been in the other reality. Even the air was sweet and warm with the smell of fire and of food being handed out among the stalls. 

Although Scorpius wasn’t paying any attention, as he desperately searched through the crowds of students watching the competition unfold. It was mildly discombobulating seeing himself - his past self - staring anxiously up at the skies, and yet he barely noticed as he only had eyes for the boy with the shock of black hair. Scorpius couldn’t help himself. He stepped forward, the name of his best friend on his lips, but was pulled back before he could get any closer. He turned around and faced his mother, who shook her head and beckoned him back to the trees.

“And Cedric Diggory has entered the stage,” Ludo Bagman’s voice boomed through the enclosure, from up on high. “And he seems scared. Scared, but ready. He dodges this way. He dodges that. The girls swoon as he dives for cover.” He watched as Hermione aimed her wand at Albus, who was too riveted by the competition to notice. There was a roar from the dragon and his past self reached out and grabbed Albus, who looked over at him and smiled reassuringly. He didn’t remember doing that. “They cry as one: don’t damage our Diggory, Mr. Dragon! And Cedric skirts left and he dives right - and he readies his wand.”

There was a sudden jerk in his arm and Scorpius looked down at the Time-Turner. The centre piece was spinning. He pulled away from his mother’s grasp and held it with both hands, struggling to keep it still as he was wrenched from side to side. Astoria grabbed him by the hands and struggled with him, but it was no use, and Scorpius could tell it was getting worse - spinning ever faster as it tried to pull them both back to the present. “This is taking too long,” Snape growled. “The Time-Turner is spinning.”

“What has this young, brave, handsome man got up his sleevies now?” Ludo Bagman questioned from above, his voice impossibly cheerful in spite of the dire situation.

He could hear Hermione cast a blocking spell and looked up just in time to see Albus glance down miserably at his wand, before Scorpius dragged him away. There was another awful jerk from the Time-Turner and Astoria gave a desperate shout as the others gathered around them - pulled, inexplicably, into its grasp. And then they were hurtling through time again, as Ludo Bagman’s distorted voice boomed around them, “A dog - he’s transfigured a stone into a dog - dog diggity, Cedric Diggory, you are a doggy dynamo!”

When they returned from time, it felt different from before. He felt as though he’d left his stomach behind in 1994 and the Time-Turner was warm in his hands, still vibrating horribly from the journey they’d just completed. And then he heard a snap from behind him and the sound of someone groaning.

He turned and watched as Hermione kneeled over Ron, her face full of concern and terror as he clutched his leg and moaned in pain. “Ron… Ron… What has it done to you?”

“Oh, no, I knew it,” said Snape, looking around wildly. They were out in the open, nowhere near the Whomping Willow, and there was a chill in the air. Scorpius could see glimpses of the sky through the trees and it was terribly dark for so early in the afternoon.

“The Time-Turner did something to Albus, too,” he explained, shakily. “The first time we went back.”

“Useful time to - ow - tell us,” Ron gasped.

“We’re above ground. We need to move, now.”

“Ron, you can still walk, come on…” said Hermione, as she pulled him to his feet. Every step he took was clearly causing him a great deal of pain, but he still hobbled on at her side as they made their way through the forest and back towards the school.

“Did it work?” Scorpius asked.

Hermione looked at him. “We blocked the spell. Cedric kept his wand. Yes, it worked.”

“But we’ve come back in the wrong place,” Astoria added, from beside him. Her hand was on his arm again. “We’re outside. We’re nowhere near the Whomping Willow.”

“We need to use the Time-Turner again - get out of here,” Ron insisted.

“We need to find shelter. We’re horribly exposed.”

Suddenly there was a breath of icy wind throughout the forest and Astoria grabbed his hand and pushed him behind her. Hermione looked up. “Too late.”

All around them were hooded figures, hovering just above them. The chill in the air spread through his bones and into his heart as Scorpius clung to his mother’s arm. _Dementors._ And they were utterly surrounded. “This is a disaster,” Professor Snape lamented.

“They’re after me, not any of you,” Hermione insisted and glanced over her shoulder, her features softening. “Ron. I love you and I always have. But the four of you need to run. Go, now.”

“_What_?” Ron shouted, incredulously. “Can we talk about the love thing first?”

“This is still Voldemort’s world. And I am done with it,” she replied, her voice breaking as she looked over at Astoria and Scorpius. “Reversing the next task will change everything.”

“But - they’ll kiss you! They’ll suck out your soul!” Scorpius protested. They couldn’t leave her behind. Alternate reality or not; she was Albus’ aunt, she was Rose and Hugo’s mother, and however fierce she was - in that moment, all he could see was the terror in her eyes.

Hermione stepped forward, her wand still aimed at the Dementors above them as she gave Scorpius a small, reassuring smile. “And then you’ll change the past. And then they won’t,” she paused as Astoria reached for her hand. They exchanged a loaded look, before she let go and turned back to Scorpius. “Go, now.”

* * *

“Let’s get down to the water,” Snape insisted, from ahead of them. “Walk. Don’t run. They may be blind, but they can sense your fear.”

“They just sucked out their souls!” Scorpius sobbed, pulling away from his mother and glancing back at the clearing, where the bodies of Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger lay utterly bereft on the cold ground. The Dementors were still there, hovering inches away from their pallid faces, although he could tell even from a distance that there was nothing left for them to take.

And then he suddenly realised that there were only two of them in the clearing, while the other had seemingly vanished. He turned and found himself staring right into the vast emptiness of the third Dementor as it hovered between him and his companions. But he couldn’t see Professor Snape or his mother anymore. All he could see was darkness, all he could feel was this terrible cold that seemed to consume his very being - seeping into his skin and pouring through his veins. His heart was full of unspeakable dread as shapeless visions swirled before his eyes.

He was distantly aware of someone speaking to him, encouraging him out of the mists - but he could not answer. “I feel cold. I can’t see,” he whimpered. “There’s a fog inside me - around me.” The shapes in the mist coalesced and took form. He could see Albus. He was drowning in the lake. Scorpius reached out for him, but it was no use, he was already gone. Then he could see his mother. She was in pain and he was helpless. He couldn’t touch her or comfort her. “I can see my mother… She wants me - my - help, but I can’t - help…”

“Scorpius,” he could hear her, through the mists and the pain and sorrow. “I’m right here. It’s alright. Listen to me - you need to think of something else… Think of Albus. Think of seeing him again. Once this is over, you’ll see him again... Scorpius - listen to me -”

He could see Albus so clearly. And he wasn’t drowning, he wasn’t suffering. He was smiling. Laughing on the train on the way to school, beaming at him from across the table in a Potions lesson, sharing in his joy as they looked up at Hogwarts from a distance.

Before he knew it, the fear and pain and grief was suddenly shattered and he was on solid ground again. He looked up as a white lark flew above him, weaving through the trees in a full circle around their heads. His mother was holding his hand and he knew immediately, without asking, that this was her Patronus. It filled him with a warmth he hadn’t felt since arriving in this reality.

Scorpius looked over at her and watched as she pressed her fingers to her lips. He frowned and opened his mouth to speak, but then he saw her through the trees. Professor Umbridge.

“Professor Snape!” She shouted in her shrill voice, a sickly sweet smile on her face.

“Professor Umbridge,” he replied, inclining his head in her direction.

“Have you heard the news? We’ve caught that traitorous Mudblood, Hermione Granger.” Astoria tensed up, next to him, and he could see the white of her knuckles as she gripped her wand. “She was just out here.”

If Snape was at all affected by the news, he hid it well. “How - fantastic.”

There was a long pause where they both stared at each other. And then Professor Umbridge quirked a thin eyebrow, her voice dropping in tone. “With you. Granger was with __you__.”

“With me? You’re mistaken,” Professor Snape drawled, waving his hand dismissively.

“With you and Scorpius Mal-”

“Expelliarmus!” Astoria shouted, catching the wand of a stunned Professor Umbridge - who opened her mouth to speak, but she wasn’t fast enough. “Depulso!”

Umbridge was propelled backwards through the air, screaming as she went, before disappearing entirely into the depths of the forest. Professor Snape looked at Astoria with a relieved sigh. “_Finally_.”

Astoria was about to reply, when she stopped and aimed her wand at the skies. The Dementors had followed them. And there was more of them this time. Scorpius reached for his mother’s hand and pulled her away, but they were surrounded from all sides. There was nowhere to go and the white lark was nowhere in sight.

“Expecto Patronum!” There was a beam of light, so strong that Scorpius had to shield his eyes. And when he looked again there was a beautiful white doe, glowing above their heads as it chased down the Dementors until they had all retreated back into the forest.

“A doe?” Scorpius asked, watching as it landed deftly at his feet. “Lily’s Patronus.”

“Strange, isn’t it? What comes from within.” But it wasn’t strong enough. The Dementors were returning, as the light of the doe was weakening. It turned and looked to Snape, who was staring at Scorpius. “You need to run. Both of you. I will keep them at bay for as long as I can.”

His mother stepped forward, looking at Professor Snape with the most profound respect and gratitude. “Thank you.”

He nodded to her and then turned to Scorpius, considering his words carefully before speaking, “tell Albus - tell Albus Severus - I’m proud he carries my name. Now go. Go!”

The Patronus ran ahead of them and Astoria followed, dragging Scorpius behind her. He could feel the Dementors converging on the professor behind them. And by the time they arrived at the edge of the lake, the doe had vanished. Professor Snape was dead. Astoria reached into her bag and pulled out the jar of Gillyweed, glancing back towards the forest as she unscrewed the lid.

“I - I can’t,” Scorpius gasped, through tears, as she looked back at him. “I can’t leave you.”

“You have to,” Astoria replied, taking one of his trembling hands. “I know you’re scared. But this will be over soon. You’ll be back with Albus - you’ll be safe.”

“But - without you - I can’t -” He stopped, his voice muffled by his mother’s shoulder as she pulled him into her arms. Her embrace was warm, and he could feel her heart beating in her chest - but it wasn’t enough, he could still feel the icy breath of the Dementors as they gathered around the edge of the lake.

Astoria pulled away from him and he realised, with a shock, that she was crying as she cupped his cheek. “It’ll be over soon, I promise, just - do this. For me.”

“Come with me,” Scorpius exclaimed, suddenly. “Please... Please.”

Astoria started to shake her head, but then one of the Dementors descended upon them both and she ducked out of the way, pushing Scorpius behind her as he frantically turned the dials of the Time-Turner into place. When he looked up, he reached out and grasped her hand. He summoned what little strength and Greengrass determination he had left and stood firm as she stared back at him. He was not leaving without her. Eventually, she relented, and they both swallowed a cutting of the Gillyweed each before wading into the water together. 

It was so dark and cold. The lake seemed to expand out into eternity. He could barely see the Time-Turner as he twisted the last dial into place. But his mother's hand was in his and that was enough. It had to be enough, as he pushed through the depths of the lake - a single name, roaring through his mind. _Albus, Albus, Albus..._

**Author's Note:**

> It was so interesting to think about the different dynamics of the characters and how they would have lived their lives in this other reality. It's an awful thing to watch on stage, especially if the Scorpius you're seeing is leaning heavily into his anxiety or suffering, but it's also a concept that I was curious about - particularly with the different journeys the Malfoy family would have gone on to get where they were. 
> 
> I'm just a sucker for alternate universes, okay, don't @ me. I've left the ending intentionally open as whatever Scorpius finds when he returns from time is a whole other story that I'm not sure I can commit to writing at the moment. But let me know your thoughts on that and on the fic in the comments! I have got to say - I don't mind admitting - I am a tiny bit - just a tiny bit nervous about posting this one. So please be gentle.


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